Snowball Surname

125,581st
Most Common
surname in the World

Approximately 3,624 people bear this surname

Most prevalent in:
England
Highest density in:
Cayman Islands

Snowball Surname Definition:

Given this surname's lack of a prefix and its occurrence among prefixed surnames, it is likely this surname is derived from a nickname. Exactly what that nickname may have signified has been lost, as there is no surviving literature suggesting what it may have signified.

Read More About This Surname

Snowball Surname Distribution Map

By incidenceBy frequencyBy rank
Incidence (high to low)Incidence (low to high)Alphabetic A-ZAlphabetic Z-ARank (high to low)Rank (low to high)
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
England1,5531:35,8784,718
United States6501:557,62945,979
Australia5061:53,3516,583
Canada2941:125,32513,101
South Africa2301:235,55524,262
Mexico971:1,279,65214,962
New Zealand861:52,6558,408
Scotland541:99,1456,812
Jamaica351:81,9983,758
Wales291:106,7088,358
Costa Rica211:227,6222,745
Cayman Islands131:4,915636
Belgium81:1,437,08092,692
Norway51:1,028,45761,363
Thailand41:17,659,586685,799
Sweden41:2,461,689157,534
India31:255,688,4611,306,352
Spain31:15,584,012120,866
Philippines21:50,619,112341,003
Slovakia21:2,668,225118,680
Northern Ireland21:922,51818,701
Malaysia21:14,747,112316,340
Vietnam21:46,323,0275,235
Brazil21:107,037,1661,031,150
United Arab Emirates11:9,162,273135,437
Austria11:8,515,435118,036
Zimbabwe11:15,438,240133,260
Afghanistan11:32,153,18360,828
Papua New Guinea11:8,153,717181,784
Singapore11:5,507,70347,049
Puerto Rico11:3,550,1399,109
Nigeria11:177,142,758748,972
Ireland11:4,708,93929,543
Kenya11:46,179,900103,372
Japan11:127,844,29373,547
Italy11:61,156,688199,583
Ghana11:27,020,69223,742
Germany11:80,505,459560,955
France11:66,422,722504,397
Ecuador11:15,905,84650,210
China11:1,367,321,56651,149
Show All Nations
Incidence (high to low)Incidence (low to high)Alphabetic A-ZAlphabetic Z-ARank (high to low)Rank (low to high)
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
England9651:25,2593,485
Scotland101:374,32210,959
Wales31:522,80514,314
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States1081:464,98833,280

Snowball (44) may also be a first name.

Snowball Surname Meaning

From Where Does The Surname Originate? meaning and history

Given this surname's lack of a prefix and its occurrence among prefixed surnames, it is likely this surname is derived from a nickname. Exactly what that nickname may have signified has been lost, as there is no surviving literature suggesting what it may have signified. Surnames derived from nicknames typically describe an individual's appearance or character. The most obvious is a reference to someone's head or hair, as 'bal,' is derived for the Old English for sphere. Thus it may signify someone whose hair was as white as snow, or had a particularly bald, white head. Referring to ones character it may have signified someone who has a temper that can snowball out of control or maybe slowly produce high quality products. Less likely is an origin for someone who had a penchant for throwing snowballs or was involved in a memorable event featuring a snowball. In contemporary times snowball is still used as a nickname. I can find instaances of individuals called as such for: wearing white clothing, having a head shaped like a snowball and having white hair. The last is the most common.

The surname appears to have arisen solely in the North. There is a Yorkshire ghost tale of a tailor surnamed Snowball.

  • c. 1200 John Snaubal (Yorkshire): Hornby Catholic Mission Papers
  • 1274: Thomas Snaubol (Cumerland) : Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, Vol. 2
  • 1282: Thomas Snowebal (Cumberland): Annual Report of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records
  • 1355. Thomas Snaueball, taillour: Admissions to the Freedom of York
  • 1374: Agnes Snauball (Yorkshire): Foljambe of Osberton: Deeds and Estate Papers
  • 1382: Roger Snaweballe, of Westminster: Patent Rolls
  • 1385: Philipot Snawball: ICMA Muster Rolls Database
  • 1417: Thomas Snaweball: ICMA Muster Rolls Database
— Forebears.io

This surname is derived from a nickname. I cannot suggest any satisfactory derivation. It is possible that it was a nickname for one with snow-white hair and a round head; compare Whitehead and Snowwhite.

1546-7. William Stacye and Katherine Snowball: Marriage Lic. (Faculty Office).

1745. Married — George Snowball and Mary Winn: St. George, Hanover Square.

1746. — Richard Clingo and Jane Snowball: St. George's Chapel, Mayfair.

— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (1896) by Charles Wareing Endell Bardsley

Is a nickname of comparatively mod. orig.

— Surnames of the United Kingdom (1912) by Henry Harrison

From some local name compounded of bold; perhaps from snaw-bold, the snow dwelling. See Bottle.

— Ludus Patronymicus (1868) by Richard Stephen Charnock
DNA test information
Display Statistics on:

Snowball Demographics

Average Snowball Salary in
United States

$39,706 USD

Per year
Rank:
760,403 of 1,180,305
Percentage of all salaries earned by bearers:
0.000159224
Rank: 51,336 of 1,181,369
Percentage of national average salary:
92.02%
Sample size: 342 (2014)

Average Salary in
United States

$43,149 USD

Per year
Per month:
$3,596 USD
Per week:
$799 USD
Per day:
$118 USD

View the highest/lowest earning families in The United States

Snowball Last Name Facts

Where Does The Last Name Snowball Come From? nationality or country of origin

Snowball occurs more in England more than any other country/territory. It can also appear as a variant:. Click here for further possible spellings of this surname.

How Common Is The Last Name Snowball? popularity and diffusion

The surname Snowball is the 125,581st most common last name on earth, held by approximately 1 in 2,010,912 people. The surname is mostly found in Europe, where 46 percent of Snowball are found; 45 percent are found in Northern Europe and 45 percent are found in British Isles. Snowball is also the 1,525,482nd most commonly used first name throughout the world It is held by 44 people.

This last name is most prevalent in England, where it is borne by 1,553 people, or 1 in 35,878. In England Snowball is most frequent in: Durham, where 21 percent live, Tyne and Wear, where 20 percent live and Greater London, where 7 percent live. Not including England this last name occurs in 40 countries. It is also found in The United States, where 18 percent live and Australia, where 14 percent live.

Snowball Family Population Trend historical fluctuation

The prevalency of Snowball has changed through the years. In England the share of the population with the surname expanded 161 percent between 1881 and 2014; in The United States it expanded 602 percent between 1880 and 2014; in Scotland it expanded 540 percent between 1881 and 2014 and in Wales it expanded 967 percent between 1881 and 2014.

Snowball Last Name Statistics demography

In The United States those holding the Snowball last name are 18.61% more likely to be registered with the Republican Party than the national average, with 65.38% registered with the party.

The amount Snowball earn in different countries varies significantly. In South Africa they earn 21.23% more than the national average, earning R 288,084 per year; in United States they earn 7.98% less than the national average, earning $39,706 USD per year and in Canada they earn 10.38% more than the national average, earning $54,842 CAD per year.

Phonetically Similar Names

Incidence (high to low)Incidence (low to high)Alphabetic A-ZAlphabetic Z-ASimilarity (high to low)Similarity (low to high)Prevalent jurisdiction A-ZPrevalent jurisdiction Z-A
SurnameSimilarityWorldwide IncidencePrevalency
Snow Ball946/
Snow-Ball941/
Snowaball941/
Snoball931/
Snowbal930/
Snowbell8818/
Snowboll883/
Snowvall881/
Snobal861/
Snobell801/
Snowbel801/
Snowble800/
Snobl77174/
Snobelle751/
Snaeball750/
Snayball750/
Snow-Bailey742/
Snoble71102/
Snobel7153/
Snobli7116/
Snobol715/
Snoibl711/
Snbaullah711/
Snobolo67110/
Snbl6759/
Sznobel677/
Snobble676/
Snhobowale673/
Snoblau670/
Show All Similar Surnames

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Footnotes

  • Surnames are taken as the first part of an person's inherited family name, caste, clan name or in some cases patronymic
  • Descriptions may contain details on the name's etymology, origin, ethnicity and history. They are largely reproduced from 3rd party sources; diligence is advised on accepting their validity - more information
  • Name distribution statistics are generated from a global database of over 4 billion people - more information
  • Heatmap: Dark red means there is a higher occurrence of the name, transitioning to light yellow signifies a progressively lower occurrence. Clicking on selected countries will show mapping at a regional level
  • Rank: Name are ranked by incidence using the ordinal ranking method; the name that occurs the most is assigned a rank of 1; name that occur less frequently receive an incremented rank; if two or more name occur the same number of times they are assigned the same rank and successive rank is incremented by the total preceeding names
  • Ethnic group cannot necessarily be determined by geographic occurrence
  • Similar: Names listed in the "Similar" section are phonetically similar and may not have any relation to Snowball
  • To find out more about this surname's family history, lookup records on Family​Search, My​Heritage, FindMyPast and Ancestry. Further information may be obtained by DNA analysis